Various types of aircraft include a fuselage that defines an internal cabin. The fuselage may be formed as a circumferential shape, such as cylindrical or barrel-shaped. The fuselage, as well as various other portions of the aircraft, may be formed of composite materials. For example, the fuselage may be formed of multiple composite barrel sections. A trailing end of one barrel section connects to a leading end of another barrel section.
Interfacing ends of the barrel sections typically are sanded in order to be within a particular specified thickness. In general, the end segments are manually sanded. That is, an individual uses one or more sanding devices to precisely abrade or otherwise remove portions of the barrel segments to a specified thickness.
As each barrel section may be formed of composite materials, a curing process may be used to form each barrel section. For example, each barrel section may be cured within an autoclave. In order to ensure that the barrel sections retain a desired shape during the curing process, various structural supports (such as braces, ribs, beams, or the like) may be secured to portions of the barrel sections within an autoclave. In order to minimize or reduce a possibility that the supports mar, den, mark, or otherwise damage portions of a barrel section during a curing process, patches (such as shims) may be positioned between the supports and portions of the barrel section. After the curing process, the structural supports are removed, and the patches are removed through sanding.
As noted, the sanding process is performed manually, and is time and labor intensive. For example, an individual manually sands the patches, and then measures the thickness of a sanded area to ensure that is at or within a specified thickness. Sometimes, however, the individual may over-sand a portion of a barrel section. As such, the thickness may be too thin to safely and securely connect to another barrel section. Therefore, the over-sanded barrel section may need to be re-worked or discarded.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method of accurately and efficiently sanding components, such as ends of composite barrel sections of a fuselage of an aircraft.